So the corporate media indulged itself with the idea that Green Party candidate Jill Stein flew to the “wrong city” for a Friday rally at Capital University in central Ohio. Her lateness was in the headline, lead and conclusion of every mainstream article about the September 2 event.

As usual, they ignored the real story.

Jill originally had a speech scheduled in Cincinnati, which was moved, although the tickets weren’t. So she was in Covington, Kentucky about a half-hour before the scheduled noon start of her talk at Capital, where Harvey is in his thirteenth year of teaching (primarily UC200: Cultural and Ethnic Diversity).

No big deal. Jill hopped into a Lyft and headed north. Estimated time of arrival: about 2:30.

Compare this to when Hillary Clinton appeared in Columbus on July 31, 2016 at Ft. Hayes Metropolitan Education Center, arrived two hours late, and a dozen people had fainted in the heat in the meantime. Although the Dispatch reported on it, the article did not emphasize her lateness in the headline or lead. Buried in the middle of the article, it read: “Several in the Ft. Hayes crowd had to be treated by paramedics as they waited on the newly-anointed Democratic nominees, who were about two hours late – in part because they stopped for Grandpa’s Cheese Barn along Interstate 71 near Ashland.”

Meanwhile, Harvey told Jill’s crowd of about 100 (many of them his students) that she was on her way and took orders for pizza. Since the local media craves the details, here they are: seven cheese pies, seven with onions, peppers and mushrooms, and one vegan (for Harvey, Suzanne and two other takers) with tofu and no cheese. (Total price: $220, Harvey’s most memorable campaign donation).

We then opened the mic. Among others, long-time Green Party activist Anita Rios spoke. So did Bob, Ohio Green Party Co-Chair, candidate for Franklin County prosecutor, a professor at Columbus State Community College, and Editor of the Columbus Free Press/www.freepress.org. Bob and Harvey have co-authored seven books on election protection, dating back to the 2004 theft of the presidency by George W. Bush and Karl Rove.

At one o’clock we switched over to Harvey’s iPhone. One of Harvey’s students hooked us up to the PA and we played the Jill Stein campaign theme song, followed by a good long session from the Grateful Dead.

It was a gorgeous Friday afternoon on the large lawn at a lovely liberal arts college. People sat, talked and stretched out. Thanks to the modern miracles of the telephone, texting, email and social media, the crowd grew by half.

A klatch of about a dozen libertarians hovered in the background wearing Gary Johnson t-shirts. We asked them if it was true that Johnson, who advocates legalization of pot, had promised not to smoke it while in the White House. We told them that was a mistake.

When Jill arrived she was greeted by Capital’s much-loved President Beth Paul. Back in 2008, the school hosted an appearance from candidates John McCain and Sarah Palin. George H.W. Bush and other presidents, ex-presidents and candidates—-including Barack Obama—-have appeared here.

When Bob finally introduced her, we had a rested, happy crowd of enthusiastic students, locals and Green Party volunteers. Jill spoke of the Green New Deal and her plan to put hundreds of thousands of Americans to work to create a clean energy economy by 2030. She asked the student crowd how many had taken out student loans and more than half raised their hands. The crowd roared approval when she announced she would cancel all student loan debt, which affects 43 million Americans.

What should have been the lead was Stein’s call to cut the U.S. military spending in half. She pointed out that our nation has 900 military bases all over the world. Other than the U.S., all the other nations on the planet combined have only 30 military bases outside their borders.

We took questions after Jill’s speech, then a group photo, and a long selfie line. A good time was had by all.

By the time Jill hopped in Anita’s car to head to Cleveland for her next gig, this time just a half-hour late, the media had filed its story, but obviously missed an excellent rally.

The media are also misrepresenting Stein’s official ballot status: A Dispatch article Monday, September 5, said: “Green Party nominee Jill Stein is on track to make it in at least half [of the state ballots].” At the time the Dispatch published this AP report, Stein was already on the ballot in 41 states and likely to end up on at least 45 states, or 95 percent of the states. Only in South Dakota is she not on the ballot by name or as a write-in, and in only three states is she certified as a write-in only – Indiana, North Carolina and Georgia.

Ohio Green Party delegates Bob Fitrakis and Philena Farley at the Green Party national presidential nominating convention

More than a few have wondered why the Green Party headed for Houston in August to nominate Jill Stein for President. I heard a few press observers note that maybe it was because Houston is one of the hottest and most polluted cities in the nation – perhaps more in need of Stein’s proposed Green New Deal than any other major U.S. city.

The reality is that the national Greens chose Houston because the state Party there practices thoroughgoing grassroots democracy. Simply put, Houston’s state Green Party had the best proposal. The Ohio Greens had proposed Toledo and were a finalist, with a vision of the Cleveland fascistic Republican convention contrasted with adecentralized democratic meeting in the city that is, for all practical purposes, a suburb of Detroit.

Prior to the Saturday, August 6 nominating convention, there were no major questions outstanding. Stein was the presumptive nominee, had chosen her Vice President, and her platform was clear. This is despite the fact in the past few months, Stein had offered Bernie Sanders to be the Green Party presidential nominee (with Stein as VP), and offered former Ohio State Senator, Sanders supporter, and renegade Democrat Nina Turner a spot as her running mate.

There was also talk of Cornel West as a VP candidate. But in the end, Stein turned to a stalwart human rights activist with ties to the Black Lives Matter movement to balance the ticket and reach out to the Party’s growing minority base, Ajamu Baraka.

The two most fiery calls to action during Stein’s nomination process were from the always eloquent Cornel West and YahNe Ndgo. Ndgo, as if conjuring up the spirit of “criticism/self-criticism” from the 1970s, appealed far more to the primarily white 200 or so Green Party delegates than the numerous Bernie-or-Bust observers, who broke into frequent chants of “Jill! Not Hill!”

There was some tension in Stein’s nominating process when presidential hopeful Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza-Curry immediately objected to the Alabama delegation casting their votes, because she claimed she had not been invited to that state. Moyowasifza-Curry has argued vigorously for the Green Party becoming a minority-led vehicle to advance issues of concern to people of color.

Although there were frequent procedural objections from the floor by Moyowasifza-Curry, Stein easily won the nomination. The platform that, among other things, calls for reparations for African Americans, passed with little debate and only one dissenting vote.

The Ecological Economics amendment placed the Green Party firmly on the record as a Left eco-socialist party, reading in part: “…The Green Party seeks to build an alternative economic system based on ecology and decentralization of power, an alternative that rejects both the capitalist system that maintains private ownership over almost all production as well as the state-socialist system that assumes control over industries without democratic, local decision making…” and “…“addresses the economic inequalities, social inequalities, and productivism of both capitalism and state socialism and emphasizes grassroots democracy in the workplace.”

The platform also included the Green Party’s commitment to election integrity, calling for the end to all privately-owned proprietary computer codes in the U.S. electronic voting process.

A highlight of the convention was a livestream by Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy in Britain. He spoke to the crowd about movements like the Green Party and how they keep American politics “honest.” He repeated his assertion that asking people to vote between Trump and Clinton is like asking people to choose between “cholera and gonorrhea.” Both Assange and West argued that the legendary “triangulation” of the Clintons, while they govern from the corporate center, is fanning the flames of right-wing takeovers to hold the Left at bay.

Stein asserted that all the fears of a Trump presidency – naked oligarchies, endless wars – actually occurred during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. Stein also pointed out, along with West, that the current U.S. mass incarceration state that has disproportionately arrested blacks and Latinos was fueled on the federal level by the policies of Bill Clinton.

The key unanswered question from the convention is how many of the Berners will bolt from the preference of their leader and dedicate their energy and enthusiasm to the Stein campaign. Reports are already coming in of record small donations to the Stein campaign. In a press conference following her nomination, Stein said she had raised more money in the last three weeks than in the first year and half of her campaign.

Will the long sought-after, post-60s dream of an eco-socialist alliance, with state and local elected officials finally breakthrough in 2016?

Bob Fitrakis, Co-Chair of the Ohio Green Party, was an alternative delegate to the 2016 national Green Party convention and is the Federal Election Commissioner of the Green Shadow Cabinet.

The Franklin County Green Party, the only alternative political party in Central Ohio, endorses Issue One in the August 2, 2016 special election and urges all Green Party members and supporters to vote “yes.”
The Franklin County Green Party has worked for and supported an expansion of Columbus City Council with district representation since its inception in the year 2000.
“In this presidential election year, when the major parties are offering the two most unpopular candidates in modern history, it is more important than ever to create new leadership and add new voices at the grassroots level,” co-Chair Bob Fitrakis said. “Issue One will end the stagnant and corrupt Democratic Party monopoly over the Columbus City Council and allow ordinary people to elect representatives from parts of the city that have been historically under served.”
“The Democratic Party is engaged in a vicious campaign of lies and distortion against Issue One because it threatens their dictatorial party power over the city. They also characterize Issue One as a campaign as coming from the Republican Party when, in fact, the idea originated from the Green Party, independent voters, and black grassroots activists on the east side of the city, one of the most neglected areas of Columbus,” Fitrakis said.
The Franklin County Green Party urges all of those concerned with clean government, the environment, and real democracy to get out and work for the passage of Issue One.

http://fitrakisforcongress.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Issue-1-50perc.jpg326480Fitrakishttp://fitrakisforcongress.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/fitrakisprocedit_340-3-300x78-300x51.pngFitrakis2016-07-29 10:32:372016-08-27 00:12:55Issue 1, The Green Party Of Franklin County

Come see us at the Hamilton County Board of Elections tomorrow – Friday, Nov. 2 from 4:30-6pm. We’re having a press conference about the voting machine problem. Also, we’re having dinner at Venice on Vine 1301 Vine afterwards from 6-8pm. Jill Stein, Green Party presidential candidate will be there.

SPECIAL DEEP DISCOUNT for FREE PRESS members and anyone on your list-serve. Just mention FREE PRESS at the Drexel Box-Office when coming to see BAG-IT, and be admitted for only $6 … that’s $3.00 off general admission (reg. $9) and $1.50 off Matinee Admission (reg. $7.50) to see the film.
Showing Wednesday, October 3, Sunday, October 7, and Tuesday, October 9.
An Award-winning and extremely funny environmental film about the effects of the millions of plastic bags we use in America and how it effects our waterways, oceans, landscape and even our own bodies. Presented by the Drexel Theatre and the Franklin Park Conservatory.
Drexel Theater, 2254 E. Main St., Bexley

Oct. 6 – Pride of the Southside Festival – Green Party voter registration, 10am-4pm, Lincoln Park, Barack Recreation Center, behind it, in Lincoln Park, 580 Woodrow Avenue, 43207
Get involved in Election Protection this year!
We need volunteers for a number of different duties between now and Election Day. Work from home, or observe at the polls, or work from central headquarters on Election Day. Everyone’s skills are needed from computer work, video, legal services, to just answering the phone.
Ohio Election Protection meeting: Tuesday, Sept. 11, 6:30pm, Bob Fitrakis’ home, 1021 E. Broad St., Columbus. 253-2571, truth@freepress.org.

Events for Saturday October 13 with Green Party Vice Presidential candidate Cheri Honkala
Green Party Vice Presidential candidate Cheri Honkala will visit Columbus on Saturday October 13, 2012. Honkala is running with the Green’s presidential candidate, Jill Stein.
11am-12noon – Bob Fitrakis will interview Cheri on WVKO1580AM radio show “Fight Back!” wvko1580.com, call-in 614-821-1580
4-6pm – Meet and speak to Cheri Honkala at a fundraiser reception for the Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala Green Party presidential campaign, at 1021 E. Broad Street. Suggested donation: $25.00
6:30pm-midnight – Cheri will be joining Dream Act activists at the Second Saturday Salon 6:30pm-midnight, also at 1021 E. Broad Street. There will also be a presentation by Anti-Racist Action and a celebration of the first anniversary of the Occupy movement in Columbus.
For more info: 614-374-2380
fcgreenparty@gmail.com
http://www.jillstein.org/cheri_honkala